Exploring Probation, Intermediate Sanctions, and Restorative Justice: A Comprehensive Overview

1. Chapter 12Community Sentences: Probation,Intermediate Sanctions, and Restorative Justice

2. The Menu of Choices • Punishment can range from little to death

3. Probation • A criminal sentence mandating that an offender be placed and maintained in the community • Subject to certain rules and conditions

4. Probation (cont.) • The History of Probation • Traced back to English common law • Judicial reprieve – allows judges to suspend punishment so that convicted offenders could seek a pardon, gather new evidence, or demonstrate they had reformed • Recognizance – enabled convicted offender to remain free if they entered into a debt obligation with the state • John Augustus – the “father of probation” • 1878 – Massachusetts passed a law for paid probation officers

5. Probation (cont.) • Philosophy of probation • The average offender is not actually dangerous • Institutionalization prohibits successful adjustments of behavior once returned to society • Even dangerous offenders can be rehabilitated in the community given the proper balance of supervision, treatment, and control • It is cheaper than imprisonment

6. Probation (cont.) • Approximately 2,000 probation agencies nationwide • Half of the probation agencies are at the county or municipal government level • Almost 30 states combine probation and parole supervision into a single agency • About 4 million people are currently on probation • Number has grown almost 2 percent each year since 1994

7. Probation (cont.) • Probationers are subject to a set of probation rules or conditions mandated by the court • Keep a job, contact probation officer, have a place of residence, do not go certain places (e.g., bars; no guns) • Violation of these conditions may result in revocation of probation requiring the original sentence to be served • Technical violations (terms of probation) rather than new crimes committed by probationer are the major cause of revocations

8. Probation (cont.) • In approximately half the cases there is a direct sentence to probation without the threat of prison • Subsequent violations will result in harsh punishment • In 30 percent of the cases judges use a suspended sentence as part of probation

9. Probation (cont.) • Conditions of probation • Standard conditions apply to all offenders in a jurisdiction • Special conditions are required on a case-by-case basis – substance abuse treatment • Conditions must serve to either protect society or rehabilitate offender • Cannot be capricious or cruel

10. Probation (cont.) • Administration of probation services • Statewide probation services • Local probation services • Combination • Juvenile and adult services can be separated or combined

11. Probation (cont.) • Duties of probation officers: • Pre-sentence Investigation Reports • Intake • Diagnosis • Treatment supervision • Risk classification • Maintain contact with probationer

12. Probation (cont.) • Legal rights of probationers • Entitled to fewer constitutional protections • Some rules on self-incrimination before a probation officer do not apply • Rules on search and seizure are not always the same – probation officer can enter home at any time without warrant • Due process rights apply during revocation hearings

13. Probation (cont.) • How successful is probation? • Most commonly used alternative sentence • Less expensive than incarceration • 30 to 40 percent fail on probation – most for technical violations of rules • Recidivism rate is less than those sent to prison • Probation officers have heavy case loads • Treatment and helping probationers is largely a myth

14. Probation (cont.) • How successful is probation? • People with stable home environment and employment are most likely to succeed • Those with a prior criminal history, prior probation, and previous incarcerations are most likely to fail • Males convicted on sexual offenses appear to do well on probation

15. Probation (cont.) • Future of probation • Imposition of fees on probationers to defray costs • Hotspot probation initiatives – community supervision teams • Organizing caseloads around geographic area rather than offender type

16. Intermediate Sanctions • Add additional sanctions to traditional probation sentences • May include monetary fines, intensive supervision, house arrest, electronic monitoring, restitution, boot camps, shock probation, etc • Allows judges to fit punishment to the crime without resorting to a prison sentence

17. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Believed to be cost effective alternatives to incarceration • Can serve the needs of a number of offender groups to reduce overcrowding in jails/prisons • Can be used as halfway back strategies for those who violate conditions of probation or parole

18. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Fines • Monetary punishment • Used more often in lesser offenses or when financial profits were high • Fines may discriminate against the poor • Many fines go uncollected • Day fines – make the fine fit the offender’s income; equalize the pain of fines • The money from fines goes to the state, not the victims

19. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Forfeiture • Can be used in civil and criminal cases • Civil forfeiture can be done without probable cause or any proof by government of a crime • Seizure of goods and instrumentalities related to the commission or outcome of a criminal act • Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) • Zero tolerance

20. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Restitution • Pay back to victims or society • monetary restitution or community service restitution • Benefits the victim, the offender (symbolically), and the community • Most restitution clients successfully complete their orders and do not recidivate • The money, goods or services from restitution goes to the victim or community, not the state

21. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Shock probation: sentence in which offenders serve a short prison term before they begin probation to impress on them the pains of imprisonment • Split sentence: Practice that requires convicted criminals to spend a portion of their sentence behind bars and the remainder in the community • Disagreement over whether these two sanctions are helpful or harmful

22. Boots Camps • Mainly for juvenile and non-serious adult offenders • Frequently offered as alternative to prison by the judge • Confinements tend to be short • Mainly focus on discipline and physical activities • Try to teach life skills • Effectiveness varies – most boot campers return to their prior lives

23. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Intensive probation supervision – goals • Diversion from prison/decarceration • Maintain control of the individual • Facilitate reintegration into the community

24. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Intensive probation supervision • Rely on great degree of client contact by probation officer • Reduce case loads for probation officers and increase their ability to supervise probationers • Criteria for use vary throughout U.S. • Many systems use very specific conditions (e.g. mandatory curfew, employment, drug testing, community service, etc.) • Effectiveness varies – failure rates appear to be high

25. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • House arrest • Offender required to spend extended periods of time in one’s own home as an alternative to incarceration • Little standardization throughout U.S. in how house arrest is administered

26. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Electronic monitoring • Often used to ensure compliance with house arrest • Similar recidivism to traditional systems • Costs are lower • Overcrowding is reduced • Issues of privacy and liberty • Compliance technologies vary

27. Intermediate Sanctions (cont.) • Residential community corrections • Usually non-secure buildings • Residents work and/or attend school during the day and return to the center at night • Used to provide structured environment for treatment • Many are used as day reporting centers for nonresidential clients

28. Drug Courts • Developed in the 1990s • Instead of sentencing drug offenders to prison, develop a program of treatment for the drug offender. • Offender is offered the option to take the treatment instead of prison. • Drug courts combine the carrot and the stick . • Treatment groups can involve different agencies and private groups. • Sentence is served when treatment is completed. • Drug courts seem to be more effective in preventing further drug use than prison or other sentences.

29. Programs and Problems

30. Restorative Justice • Policy based on restoring the damage caused by crime and creating a system of justice which includes all parties harmed by the criminal act • Victim • Offender • Community • Criminal justice practitioners • Society • Stress mediation and reconciliation

31. Restorative Justice (cont.) • All crimes bring harm to the community, disrupt social relations, create conflict, and disharmony • The traditional justice system does not Involve the community in the justice process • Our focus on punishment, stigma, and disgrace of the offender prohibits us from repairing the harm caused by crime

32. Restorative Justice (cont.) • Restoration Programs • Sentencing circles • School programs to avoid expulsion • Police programs to deal with the crime when it is first encountered • Courts to divert offenders from the formal criminal justice process • Vermont Sentencing Boards • Family Groups Conferences • Navajo Peacemaker Court

33. Restorative Justice (cont.) • Challenges • Entry into programs may favor whites over minorities • Cultural and social differences may dictate what is “restorative” • Lack of a common definition of “restorative” • Balancing the needs of offenders with those of the victims • Strikes many people as being overly optimistic about the nature of offenders • Can it be used for more serious crimes • Difficult to maintain involvement of community in programs